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SPR: Is This Normal - CH 28

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14AmyChan: hey, guys~! *^_^* Okay, I know I didn't upload in a while...

Mai: Why didn't you update?

14AmyChan: College. Actually taking some challenging courses this semester. ^^;

Naru: At least you're not completely idiotic...

14AmyChan: hey! Oh, and by the way, when you guys are done with this chapter, mind making your way to my profile and voting?

Mai: about...?

14AmyChan: I left a question in chapter 26 and put a poll to get people's answer. *shrug*

Mai: aah...

14AmyChan: okay, so without further ado, I don't own Ghost Hunt and please enjoy~! *^_^*

Mai retold her vision exactly as she had seen it. She did not forgo a single detail from the point she overstepped the boundaries of the base to when she came to her senses at the end of the dock. At that part of the story, her voice began to waver as the events that closely followed rang through her mind. The frustration, the attempted communication, the surprise and fear that had flooded her system, and then the cold. The terrifying, breathtaking, heart stopping cold.

And then… Mai thought nervously. And then, I'm not sure. I was lost, and then I heard Naru. I heard him say some things… a bit of it made me angry, but most of it made me sad… It felt like he was giving up on something important. I couldn't let him…

Mai wrung her hands out nervously, the thoughts in her mind quickly becoming muddled and her voice tapering off into a halt. It felt as though tears that were stinging in her eyes would overflow quickly, so she took a deep breath to calm herself down. She had to remind herself that she was safe in the base with Naru, Lin, and Masako—who was still resting. That everyone was safe for the moment.

"Mai, did anything happen before you were pushed?" Naru asked, though it pained him to do so. He and Lin needed the information if they were to figure out how to get rid of this suddenly brazen and lethal ghost. It was something they could not dance around, and if any relevant information could be shared, it may help them to prevent any more harm to come to the team or anyone else.

That was what logic dictated, though it hurt the raven-haired teen tremendously to make Mai relive that experience.

Even I don't want to relive those moments… Naru silently admitted to himself, momentarily forgetting that Mai could hear practically whatever he thought at this range. Close contact, he knew, could amplify an open telepathic link. The further apart two linked individuals were, the harder it was to see thoughts. The closer, the more clear the thoughts. However, Naru knew that he and Mai were only linked one way: Mai could see what he was thinking, but he had no clue what ran through her head.

Mai turned her head at Naru's voice resonating through her mind. Somehow, knowing that it was not his wish to make her relive what had happened next filled her with a sense of warmth. It was enough that he did not want to cause her more pain. That action—however unintentional it was that she saw it—gave her the emotional strength to continue her narration.

"I tried to go back to the house so I could grab my phone. I was going to ask Yasu to do some research from where he was, but the ghost wouldn't let me leave the dock," Mai explained. She was grateful for no interruptions, verbally or otherwise. "After a few moments, I got frustrated with her and asked her what she wanted me to do. She just said "look" before she— before she pushed me…"

Mai squeezed her eyes shut; praying that no one would ask what came after that. Yes, she was in the base and safe, but she—at that moment—could feel how it was when she fell off the dock. The loss of balance and remaining in the air, unable to change course or save herself. Those petrifying moments before she broke the water's surface, and then the shock the frigid winter water sent her into. She once again felt the cold…

Except, she did not…

Naru's arm remained around her, providing her a source of warmth and security. She was grateful for that. It was her tether to the present and to the fact that they were both safe. Safe and warm inside the base.

"From Mai's visions, this spirit is looking for her daughter, Akiko," Naru stated, his voice begetting Mai's focus. She had been drifting asleep when his business-like tone snapped her out of it. She zeroed in on Naru and what he was saying.

"Can we make a hito-whatever and give her that?" Mai asked. If anything, she would like to see this spirit move on peacefully, despite what she had just gone through.

"A hitogata takes time and information to create. We will need to contact Yasuhara to see if that is even a viable option," Naru explained, his mind at work. Truth be told, he wanted this spirit out of the house and out of their lives as quickly as possible. It had possessed Hara-san, hurt and kidnapped himself, injured one of Lin's shiki—he had felt it leave him and was secretly pleased when he felt it was all right—and nearly drowned Mai.

In regards to this spirit, Naru was not a happy camper.

"I'll call him right now," Mai offered as she checked herself for her phone. It was not on her. It was still in hers and Masako's room.

Oops.

"I don't think either of you have your cell phones?" the brunette asked nervously. Naru and Lin glared at her, one in amusement and the other in exasperation. Guess which look went on which face.

"Masako and I chose a room just up the hall, so I'll be—"

"Taking Lin with you," Naru finished, intercepting and completely changing Mai's statement. She turned and narrowed her eyes at her boss, who—despite still having his arm around her—seemed to ignore her presence.

"Lin, make some charms for the girls' room, we don't want any more midnight possessions," the young man commanded. Mai blinked at this as did Lin.

"I assume you mean Hara-san's possession," Lin stated, accepting his new job and Naru's statement with the grace only a Lin could. Naru nodded curtly only to be interrupted by Mai.

"Wait a minute, then tell me why I saw—"

"Mai, once you are in your room, change into some dry clothes and call Yasuhara. I don't need you to get sick. While on the phone, tell Yasuhara we need information on Akiko and Akito the fisherman. The two names as well as the career choice should help narrow down the time frame we need," Naru stated, effectively cutting Mai off yet again. The girl was starting to get a touch frustrated with the boy.

"Naru, would you—"

"Taniyama-san," Lin stated, unintentionally interrupting the one-sided squabble. He was already at the base door with wards in hand. Mai scowled before getting up, instantly missing Naru's protective arm. To combat the issue, she turned to her boss and stared him in the eye before leaving.

At this range, she had a perfect view of his cobalt blue eyes, and their intensity might have made her loose her nerve if she were not already riled up.

"I have a lot of questions, and so help me, I will find the answers!" she stated before marching out of the room. Lin followed calmly behind the fuming girl, his eyes shining with amusement at the interaction he had just seen.

Taniyama-san had never been so bold as to go right up to Noll's face before.


"Stupid, egotistical, narcissistic, too-good-to-give-an-answer, plotting, tea-addicted egg head," Mai mumbled as she changed into a new outfit for the day. A pair of ice-blue leggings combined with a navy skirt and tennis shoes kept her lower half warm. She donned a sky blue tee shirt with her warmest blue jacket. Two thin white gloves kept her hands better protected from the cold that was suddenly all around her.

"Won't even let me ask a few questions…" she muttered as she reached for her phone. Questions were all she had right now. Many questions and few answers.

Naru had started to emit a pulse that kept spirits away—why? Gene seemed to be still here, why was he not talking to her? It seemed like she was hearing Naru's thoughts. Another why question. Masako was still asleep after a possession. While it was weird that she slept for so long, Mai could not hold it against her. Spirits often took more energy than they lent.

"Mai-chaan! You guys took a super secret case without inviting meeee?!" Yasuhara's voice blared from the other side of the line, and Mai could not help but crack a small smile at his antics. He gasped playfully before Mai could get a word in.

"Did our loveable boss confess his undying love to you and whisk his princess away for a romantic time at the beach?" he squealed happily, his teasing tone made clear. Mai groaned in embarrassment.

"Yasu, cut that out! We're on a case for Masako-chan at one of her friend's beach house. We need—" Mai began to explain only to be cut off yet again by another gasp.

"So the boss did confess? Takigawa owes me 500 yen!" Yasu celebrated for a moment before Mai managed to wrap her head around the situation. She growled into the phone, her embarrassment shining through in the form of a low growl.

"No, he didn't, Yasu! Would you cut that out? Naru needs you to do some research about this place. We're at a plot of private land owned by a Hinata Yohei. It's on a beach a few hours east of the office," Mai began to explain to her friend exactly what they knew and what they needed to know. Once she was finished, there was a happy and affirmative chirp on the other end of the line.

"You can count on me, boss! I'll see what I can dig up!" Yasu exclaimed, happy to be taking on the challenge. Mai grinned, the grey-haired boy's chipper attitude infectious.

"Thank you, Yasu," the brunette girl said in farewell.

"When I call back, I will win that 500 yen!" the researcher chirped before a flat dial could be heard. Mai looked at the phone in confusion, an expression that slowly paved way to understanding, then to embarrassed rage.

"YASU AND BOU-SAN ARE BETTING ON WHAT?!"


In the base, Naru sat, glaring at the monitors. He had already reviewed the footage he had missed, and had even been able to watch his kidnapping. Hara-san had been waiting right outside of the base, and had hit him upside the head with a frying pan. From there, he was able to watch as the petite girl lugged his unconscious form downstairs with much strain.

It was no wonder the medium was still asleep. The spirit had drained her both spiritually and physically.

Now that Mai had Yasuhara researching the people of—and most likely the land surrounding—the house, he had caught up with all of the footage from the night before, and all seemed quiet, Naru felt he had the time to do his own little bit of digging.

If the young man were honest with himself, he had been giving Mai and Hara-san time and space to allow them to work on Mai's quickly expanding powers. The time for that stopped now. Everyone on the team had been—in some way—attacked. If Naru did not intervene and take an active role now, not everyone could leave alive.

Naru grabbed a laptop and fired it up, instantly looking into local archives.

The first thing Naru did was check as far back as he could into whatever records he could find surrounding the land. The house had been constructed as a refuge for a fisherman and his wife. The pair had lived and died peacefully, having many children. The house remained in their family for many generations until finally reaching their indirect client, Hinata Yohei.

Along the passage of time, many people had passed through the house. Though all connected by blood, it seemed the dynamic of this family always changed, yet always had an heir for the house to be passed down to, until Yohei-san, whose records showed no signs of marriage or child. Strange, given the family trend to have kids by the time one is thirty.

However, Naru was getting sidetracked. He focused on the names in the families and found it irritating when some of the names were often repeated. The name 'Akiko' showed up four different times in four different generations. One of them had siblings, so that generation was out, given that Mai had not seen nor made mentions of any other children. One of them had married a tailor and had become a housewife, a seemingly altogether different personality than the Akiko of Mai's visions. The two remaining seemed to be equally plausible to be the daughter of their ghost.

"Hn…" Naru mused for a moment before taking a different angle on his search. He found within the database a mention of local fishermen. With his search narrowed to the two timeframes of the two different Akikos, the young black-haired boy searched for an Akito anywhere.

The name was no where to be found.

Frustrated that his search had yielded little results, Naru snapped his laptop shut. He was vaguely aware that he had just preformed the same task he had entrusted Yasuhara with, but was certain the boy would get more information than he alone could have. It was why he entrusted the boy with the task; he was good at what he did.

And I'm good at what I do… Naru mentally noted somewhat smugly. He returned his attention to the monitors, his cerulean eyes absorbing every minute detail. Every temperature fluctuation. Every room they had a camera in, he had his eyes on it. He listened for any change in sound, waiting to see if he could hear anything out of the ordinary. Anything other than static or the soft padding footsteps of his teammates.

Wait a moment… Naru thought, zeroing in on the noise. His eyes raked the monitors once more, ascertaining that Lin was standing outside of the girl's room, the wards already in place. Mai was most likely inside.

Other than the fact that Mai has a gait close to an elephant when she is angry, Mai and Lin are still in the girl's room, and Hara-san… Naru turned to affirm his thought. Is still passed out on the couch. Who's making those footsteps…?

The footsteps padded softly, soft enough to be gentle, yet rhythmic enough and loud enough to be classified as legitimate footsteps. Naru scanned the monitors until he found what he was looking for.

The floor was reacting as if a light adult was walking atop it in the room just to the side of where Mai and Lin currently were. Naru reached for his walkie talkie. He was going to have Lin inspect the room when the padding stopped. Naru halted for a moment and simply watched what he could. His teammates seemed oblivious to the activity that had happened so very near to them.

Naru watched for a moment and was about to pull his hand away from the walkie talkie when something attacked his ears. A loud wailing. A screeching that would not cease.

There were no words in this frightening cry, only the epitome of despair. Naru could feel his gut churn, and even heard Hara-san's unabashed sobbing in the background. He looked at the monitor to see Lin had already sent his shiki to deal with the problem, despite the obvious—to Naru, at least—pain on his face. At that time, Mai made an appearance.

It was brief, yet it was enough to stop Naru's beating heart. Her face shone with tears, her features a mix between a churn of agony and a fire of determination. Naru could only watch as Mai avoided Lin's protective arm and ran into the room that held the spirit. Lin chased after her in an attempt to drag her out, but the door slammed shut firmly once she had been allowed access.

Mai was now in the same room as the ghost that had attempted to drown her not hours before.

Naru swore loudly as a lone tear fell from his face. The despair he had been able to put up with, having been dealing with such a thing since his brother's tragic death. It was the fear that fueled his next actions. That carried him from the base to the door that kept Mai from him. That led him to beat the door mercilessly, hoping that it would come down with the next punch.

That propelled him to wish that he could demolish the barrier that kept the girl he loved with a ghost that would most likely snuff out her frail yet brilliant light.

14AmyChan: DON'T! SPEAR MEEE! Ooh, this is a problem...

Naru: What?!

14AmyChan: Well, first off, we just did an unintentional Ice Age reference in these disclaimers...

Naru: *pinches bridge of his nose*

14AmyChan: second off, I'm going to do my best to get the next chapter up in a timely manner next time! THANK YOU ALL FOR BEARING WITH ME AND MY UNSCHEDULED MESS~! *^_^*

Mai: just so all of you know, she's hugging you all.

14AmyChan: THAT I AM~! *^_^*

Mai: Please read and review, guys!

Masako: zzzzzzzzzzz

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Was titled "The Briar and The Rose". It has been about three months since they found Eugene Davis, ten weeks since Oliver/Naru left, and now the team is back together in Japan, solving cases and hunting ghosts. But something is not right about our favorite duo. What is it, I wonder...?
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